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  • Tricycle Community 13 comments

    Facebook Koan Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 25 May 2011
    Yesterday's Daily Dharma... What we call "world" is only an opinion.... Take away your opinion, your condition, situation—then your mind is clear like space... clear like a mirror. A mirror reflects everything: The sky is blue, tree is green, sugar is sweet. Just be one with truth—that's Zen style. If your mind is clear like space, then you see clearly, hear clearly, smell clearly—everything is clear. That is dharma. That is truth. -Zen Master Seung Sahn ...caused a woman to track me down on Facebook and send me this message... More »
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    Understanding "Understanding" Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 16 Dec 2010
    In response to the week 2 talk on koan practice of Gerry Shishin Wick, Roshi's Tricycle Retreat, "The Great Heart of Zen" a participant writes: More »
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    Three Good Reasons to Study Koans Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 13 Dec 2010
    What are three good reasons for studying koans? First of all, koan study is an efficient and effective means to bring students to realization of their true self. Second, koans attract type A personalities and goal-oriented people to meditation. Third, they give you something to think about while meditating.  What are three really bad reasons? See answer to question one. -Gerry Shishin Wick, Roshi, from his 2005 Tricycle interview "Give and Take: On Studying Koans" Koan practice is the subject of Week 2 of Shishin's Tricycle Retreat.  To hear Shishin discuss the practice further, click here. More »
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    Bonnie Myotai Treace on Generosity and Attention Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 12 Jul 2010
    Week 2 of Bonnie Myotai Treace's Tricycle Retreat begins today. In this week's talk she elaborates on last week's theme of generosity and introduces the theme of attention. While stressing the importance of attention in practice she tells a story of a Japanese Emperor that visited a Zen master asking for a great teaching.  In response to the Emperor's request the master painted a calligraphy of the character for 'attention.' The Emperor thanked him but stated he was looking for more of a teaching than one simple character. Upon being asked to elaborate on this teaching, the master's response was simply to once again paint the character on another piece of paper and hand it to him.  This apparently went on for quite some time.  Eventually the Emperor saw that this repetitive action WAS the great teaching—that one must come back to attention again and again and again. More »